Vegetarian

Cheddar Scones: From Meh to Marvelous

Cheddar Scones: From Meh to Marvelous

I guess I have always lived in a scone desert. I never tasted one until I was an adult. Always seemed meh to me. Then, this scone came along. Wow. My late-in-life discovery of scones made me wonder about the origins of scones. It turns…

Summer’s Bounty: Spicy Fruit Salad With a Decided Kick

Summer’s Bounty: Spicy Fruit Salad With a Decided Kick

  Do you still experience childhood food nightmares? Me, too. For me, the nightmare always begins with me prying open my battered metal lunch box. (Cue in the music from Jaws: Jaws.) On the worst days, there would be a processed cheese sandwich with gloppy…

Five Spice Cake–You’ll Be Entranced!

Five Spice Cake–You’ll Be Entranced!

Stare into this swirling spiral vortex. That and a good hot cup of chamomile tea will make you very sleepy. I love this bundt cake pan. It is a Nordic Ware pan from their Heritage Collection. I bought mine on Amazon here.  (Full disclosure: Jeff Bezos…

One Summer’s Day: Fresh Tomato and Corn Soup

One Summer’s Day: Fresh Tomato and Corn Soup

Summer! Here is a bit of mood music to set the tone:   Joe Hisaishi’s One Summer’s Day. How pretty is that? This is my favorite time of the year for cooking. Summer fruits and vegetables are ripe and plentiful in the farmer’s markets. I just…

Salad Days! Couscous With Tomatoes and Herbs

Salad Days! Couscous With Tomatoes and Herbs

  Salad Days! No. Not the Shakespearean kind of salad days full of reminiscences and regrets. You remember— Cleopatra lamenting her youthful indiscretions. “My salad days, When I was green in judgment: cold in blood, To say as I said then! ” Instead, these salad…

Banana Snacking Cake With Salted Caramel Glaze

Banana Snacking Cake With Salted Caramel Glaze

Happy Fourth of July to those of you reading this in the United States. What could be more quintessentially American than a banana cake with salted caramel glaze? OK. I know that a hot dog with everything is pretty standard Fourth of July fare. But…

Thai-Style Corn Fritters

Thai-Style Corn Fritters

Happy summer! Too hot to spend much time at the stove? These Thai Corn Fritters may be just what you need. A short cook on the griddle and you have a tasty appetizer, entree or side. (OK. I’ll fess up. I eat these for breakfast,…

Good Enough For Your VIPs: Almond Butter Cake with Cardamom and Baked Plums

Good Enough For Your VIPs: Almond Butter Cake with Cardamom and Baked Plums

This dessert soars! Truly. If you read Blue Cayenne regularly, you know that I have a love affair with plums. I can’t be sure, but I think I would choose plums if I were stranded on a dessert desert island. That and vanilla ice cream and…

Beebop-a-Reebop: Raspberry and Rhubarb Pie

Beebop-a-Reebop: Raspberry and Rhubarb Pie

“Beebop-a-Reebop Rhubarb Pie” Recognize that lyric? It’s classic Prairie Home Companion. Anyone else miss lazy Sunday afternoons spent in front of the radio listening to that show? Truth be told, I hated the twangy music but loved the gentle humor. If you are unfamiliar with the…

Gene’s Beans: Green Bean Salad With Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

Gene’s Beans: Green Bean Salad With Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

  Oh, how I wish I had a vegetable garden! I would try my hand at growing everything. Gene, my good friend and neighbor, has a flourishing vegetable garden this year. On occasion, he lets me come down and dig around to get my fix.…